Bonaventure
Medieval
c. A.D. 1221–1274
“As for exaltation in fame he says: I saw the wicked buried, namely by the depth of despair: Proverbs 18: "When the wicked man comes into the depth of sins, he scorns." Or: buried, by the heap of flattery: Matthew 8: "Let the dead bury their dead"; Gregory: "The dead man buries the dead, when he overwhelms with the heap of flattery." Or: buried, by the continuation of transgression unto death, as if to say: those who were buried in wickedness and died in wickedness, according to what is frequently said; 3 Kings 16: "He died in the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin"; and according to what the Lord says to the Jews, John: "You shall die in your sin." Such wicked men he saw exalted in fame; therefore he says: Who also, while they were still living, supply: in their wickedness, were in the holy place, that is, in a position of dignity as if they were holy, just as also the Antichrist, about whom Matthew 24: "When you shall see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place," etc. And they were praised in the city as if for works of the just. And thus they were great in fame: the Psalm: "For the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul"; and Proverbs 28: "Those who forsake the law praise the wicked; but those who keep it," etc. But this also is vanity. Here the second point is touched upon, namely the vanity of security: because from the fact that the wicked are not punished, others are rendered secure; therefore he says: But this also is vanity, that is, a cause of vanity.”